The Process Of Building A Mezzanine Floor

Developing your existing business site doesn’t have to take a lifetime. Whether you need space to accommodate more stock, improve productivity or house assembly lines – a mezzanine floor provides a cost effective and fast solution.

Rather than enduring the costly and time consuming experience of uprooting from your current premises and finding somewhere new, the process of installing a mezzanine floor is relatively stress-free. Instead of dealing with a number of estate agents, solicitors and other points of contact – any client that has a Hi-Level Mezzanine floor installed will benefit from having a single point of contact throughout the whole process and will benefit from well trained, experienced advisers throughout.

Design

Mezzanine floors come in all shapes and sizes and serve a number of different purposes, but one thing they need to share in common is a well-planned design and fabricated in accordance with CE Marking. Attention to detail is important and as such all of our floors are designed by Chartered Engineers. Our in-house designed computer system can assess all requirements and produce the most efficient floor design possible which can then be turned into detailed CAD drawings. All of our floors meet requirements for building regulations

Features

Under the law, employers are responsible for the health and safety of their workers. If employees are going to conduct their day to day duties on mezzanine flooring then it is important that an employer considers any potential risks or possible threats to their welfare. One such preventative measure that can be put in place is the use of edge protection. Protective handrails are required on all exposed edges of mezzanine floors; this protects staff from injuring themselves while working at a height and also stops any important products or machinery from being damaged by a fall. Mesh panels may also help prevent smaller items from falling over the sides.

Of course, safety isn’t the only reason to make adjustments to mezzanine flooring. A business might wish to make adjustments for visual reasons too.

If a business wants to make a big impression then company colours can be added to any ancillary items such as staircases, handrail and pallet gates which are powder coated to give a high corrosion resistance. This is often important in retail environments where a brand image is of high importance.

As expected with a raised floor that makes the most of unused vertical space, staircases and handrails are integral. It is important to consider what kind of staircase would best fit the needs of a specific business as an industrial environment would require a very different design and finish to that of the staircase of a retail environment.

Pallet gates come in three different designs; either light weight, fail-safe roll-over , ‘sliding trombone’ type or a swing gate. They are ideal for protecting staff from open areas, for example when they are loading standard size pallets. Pallet gates are robust and require very little maintenance.

When it comes to the decking of a mezzanine floor there are a variety of options but particle board, durbar plate and forge-welded gratings are among the most popular types of flooring available and suit all kinds of industries.

38mm Particle Board

38mm particle board is the most popular. It is a high density board and may come with optional moisture resistant, wear resistant and non-slip surface features. Moisture resistance may be particularly important for warehouses that suffer from leaks or spills.

Durbar Plate

Durbar plate is a hot-rolled structural steel floor plate that has an evenly distributed rand raised pattern. It copes well with heavy loads and the textured nature of the raised patterns give it extra grip.

Forge-Welded Gratings

For plant platforms, gangways and transfer aisles, forge-welded gratings are often a good choice.

Planning Permission And Building Regulations

Mezzanine floors are generally immune to planning permission as long as any proposed changes are internal and each floor is less than 200m². However, they do need to meet building regulations, so it is important that a supplier takes full responsibility to ensure that the mezzanine flooring meets with current regulations – fire escapes, disabled access, protection from fire, etc.

Building regulations require that any elevated areas within a warehouse, such as mezzanine floors require an ‘ambulant disabled staircase’. These staircases have specific requirements relating to tread, size of steps, landings and handrails and as such it is advised to consult a specialist to ensure a staircase meets the necessary legal requirements.

Fire safety plays a big part in the construction of a mezzanine floor. It aims to slow the spread of fire and maintain structural integrity so as to allow enough time for employees to escape and fire fighters to rescue anyone trapped or in need of assistance. Fire protection can be achieved through a number of methods which can give early warning, prevent fire and slow its growth, such as:

Suspended ceilings

Column casings

Cavity barriers

Bulkheads / fascias

Staircase enclosures

Fire walls

Sprinkler systems

Smoke detection systems

Quality Standards

Production management systems – like Hi-level’s iQD, ensure that the most efficient design is produced based on a business’s unique set of requirements. It creates fast CAD draughting, details output and puts together accurate production scheduling based on manufacturing and installation team availability as well as working from current steel prices to give an accurate quote to a customer.

Installation Process

The process of installing a mezzanine floor doesn’t need to be lengthy and by choosing a company with in-house experts a business can have a speedy transition from quote to installation with a minimum of fuss.

During the first stages, site surveys and inspections are conducted and qualified-surveyors will look over the potential site to understand its requirements. A computerised production management system is then used to produce accurate quotations, production schedules, management information, detailed CAD drawings, materials procurement, manufacturing drawings and installation scheduling.

Once all schedules, quotes and design plans are agreed upon the installation team who will install the mezzanine flooring will then be booked.

After clearance is given in relation to building regulations, manufacturing will commence. Once the parts are ordered and produced they are delivered to the site in time for the installation teams to erect the full structure. Final ‘snagging’ concludes the installation with any necessary tweaks and changes before customer satisfaction forms are signed and the site is left clean and tidy ready for work to recommence.

For more information about installing a mezzanine floor, call us on 01730 233223

For other uses of mezzanine floors, please have a read of our guide to the uses of a mezzanine floor

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What our clients say

“I used Hi-Level to install a two tier mezzanine structure with fire protection and staircase enclosures. Hi-Level conducted themselves with utmost professionalism whilst on site, our health and safety policies were adhered to the letter and the finish was to a very high standard, to specification and within budget”.

UTIBranch ManagerUTI

“The structure looks excellent and the customer is very pleased. Well done Hi-Level, your difficult design & manufacture issues have been very successful!”

Stodec LtdManaging Director

“Very pleased with the attention to detail, a high standard of Health and Safety throughout the project, thanks for delivering a great job”.

Stodec LtdContracts Director

“This is the third mezzanine floor we have asked Hi Level to do, the first and second one we had other quotes and both times Hi-Level offered the best deal. Whilst price was a deciding factor, service was too. From original point of contact with Neil through to the design work with Jason, it was excellent. SO very helpful especially with someone like myself with little knowledge on mezzanines, I would highly recommend Hi-Level”.

Furniture WorldManaging Director

“From launch Hi-Level’s staff design flare, their knowledge of what could be realistically possible at a sensible cost and their innovation helped us achieve a really robust functional design for the 30 year old facility”.

KAPCO UKManaging Director

“Hi-Level have an incredible fitting team!”.

Animed Veterinary HospitalProject Manager

“Great work, great team, thank you!”

Brent Lodge Wildlife Hospital

“It’s the first time Tesco have used Hi-Level and I have been very impressed with their approach from start to finish on the project, the product is robust, reliable and has a good quality finish, I would strongly consider using Hi-Level in the future” .

Network Development Project Manager, Tesco

“Hi-Level completed our mezzanine and did a great job and quickly installed!”.